An Exclusive U-Turn with Winners Tammy and Victor of The Amazing Raceby Reg SeetonThe 14th season of The Amazing Race was another worldwide nail-biter of a footrace finish, as the final three teams of Tammy and Victor, Jaime and Cara, and Margie and Luke touched down in Maui for the final leg. Although the teams started The Amazing Race at a fast pace by bungee jumping through Switzerland and then racing on through Austria, Romania, India, Thailand, and China, the laid back vibe of Hawaii posed an unexpected challenge on the road to the million dollar prize.

After running a consistent and amazing race, the brother and sister legal team of Tammy and Victor Jih found themselves struggling to keep up with mother and son duo, Margie and Luke, while trying to carry a full-grown pig across a beach in Maui. Despite battling the weight of an Amazing Race bovine to make up time on a streaking Margie and Luke, Tammy and Victor then found themselves at the mercy of the slow pace of Maui traffic inside a taxi cab, which forced them to reflect on the fact that they would have to accept either second or third place of The Amazing Race.

However, when Tammy and Victor reached the final Road Block where Luke was assembling a series of surfboards with cryptic images in order of the countries they raced through, Victor was able to catch up to Luke who got stymied by the final two pictures on the last two boards. As a result of Luke's momentary confusion, which eroded a hefty 30-minute lead, Victor snapped in the final two surfboards and both he and Tammy cruised to victory as the Season 14 winners of The Amazing race.

The morning after Tammy and Victor crossed the finish line to become the Season 14 millionaire winners of The Amazing Race, we raced to the phone with coffee in hand for an exclusive one-on-one chat with the brother and sister lawyers from California to get their thoughts on life post-Amazing Race, how they handled the challenges of the final leg in Maui, how they were able to stay focused while other teams clashed, their approach to strategy, and how the Romanian hills had a positive affect on Victor and whether they're looking to life as celebrity Amazing Race lawyers.

THE DEADBOLT: So, Victor, how have the hills of Romania changed your outlook on life?

VICTOR JIH: [laughs] I donít ever want to go to Romania again. No, Iím just kidding. You know, it as hard. I mean, Romania was all about me feeling responsible for the entire outcome of the race and I put it all on my own shoulders and I really learned from that, that I didnít need to be that and that there were two of us. Not only did I have the luxury of having Tammy there, but I needed her there and the two of us needed to do it together.

THE DEADBOLT: Tammy, how did the race test you in similar ways?

TAMMY JIH: I think the race tested me in that I have to be more confident with myself on numerous levels. I mean, I grew up the nerdy, unathletic girl who was always picked last for teams and my hardest class growing up was always P.E.. So just going through a race that was so physical and having confidence in myself and dealing with Victorís encouragement, which I sometimes thought was discouragement, that helped. I grew a lot in that way, that I needed to struggle through things, work hard, and have faith in myself.

In terms of my relationship with Victor, I went into it thinking I want Victor to view me as an equal, to stop treating me as a baby, and to see me as an adult. But if I want that, I need to start acting like an adult, and to act like an adult means that I need to voice my opinion, to take responsibility and make decisions as well.

VICTOR: Yeah. The race itself was sort of like nightmare after nightmare, because there were so many things that we were just never going to be good at. You know, the cheese hill and the gymnastics and the synchronized diving and swimming and then the pig. It really was a growing experience in both learning how to do things we were really horrible at and learn how to encourage each other in a stressful situation, and to be able to hear that as something constructive.

THE DEADBOLT: So, did you guys think it was all over when you were in the cab in Maui?

TAMMY: Oh, definitely.

VICTOR: Oh, yeah. I mean, we just stopped talking. And we were both just sort of contemplating and being thankful for being on the race. I literally was already in my head feeling happy for either Margie and Luke or Jamie and Cara for winning, and I know Tammy was really happy. You know what? We did a really good job and we were 30 minutes behind, but once I got there - and even though Luke had nine out of eleven done - the fact that they were still there, instantly I was like, ĎYou know what? Weíre still in it.í And everything went from there.

THE DEADBOLT: How hard was it for you to sink back into the pace of normal life when it was all over?

TAMMY: You know, it was very strange. But the whole time we were gone for the race - I think it was about four-plus weeks - we didnít have our Blackberries, and weíre lawyers and we fit the lawyer stereotype in that we are addicted to our Blackberries. And just coming back to normal life and being reunited with my Blackberry and being reachable at all hours, that was certainly a culture shock for me.

VICTOR: We both dived right back into normal life. I actually was sort of looking forward to it. The first thing I wanted when I got back was my Blackberry. Look, the race was this forced kind of rest from your normal life. You canít even interact with anyone you know or anything you do. That was great, but it also made me appreciate how much I like my life and how blessed I was. It wasnít something I was dreading at all, it was something actually very nice to get back to.

THE DEADBOLT: Even though you spoke the language in China, how did it challenge you guys?

VICTOR: Well, certainly speaking the language didnít help us with the birds and didnít help us with diving.

TAMMY: Those birds didnít speak neither English or Chinese.

VICTOR: The Chinese language really helped us at least enjoy the leg in China, which I thought Iím just really thankful for because we were able to joke around with the locals. And even though they wouldnít cheat and give us an advantage, we didnít expect them to anyway [laughs]. That was great, but we felt like it was finally time for us to have a task that was designed for us. Obviously not on purpose, but Luke and Margie had their swimming, Jamie and Cara had their dancing, as trained dancers, Jen and Kisha got to run really fast at the pit stop and steal the trip ... No, Iím kidding.

TAMMY: And Kris and Preston, obviously the beasts of the race, got to do the heavy lifting both in Romania and on "cheese hill".

VICTOR: And we were never going to be doing something like that. It was just like, wow, it took until Leg 11 before we got a task that was made easy for us.

THE DEADBOLT: So, what does a scorpion taste like?

VICTOR: You know what? I just did not even want to think about it. Watching is ten times worse than actually doing it. I just blocked it out of my mind and just chewed. The worst, though, was the beetle larva. Thatís the worst because itís crunchy on the outside and sort of spongy on the inside and itís so big you have to just chew it. That was probably the worst part.

THE DEADBOLT: Was it a tough decision to use the U-Turn?

TAMMY: I think it was a tough decision throughout the race, because Victor and I knew going into the race that there were probably two or three U-Turns and we discussed it the whole time. And going into the race I was very hesitant to use it at all just on principle. And then, as we got closer toward each leg with U-Turns, we troubled over whether we would use it, who we would use it on, but then when we decided to use that final U-Turn. We discussed it so much that I think we were at peace with our decision.

VICTOR: We were going in circles for the last U-Turn, because deep down it was difficult because we liked all of the teams. We have a little "be more of an informal alliance" with Margie and Luke than Jamie and Cara. But part of that was just the chance of Leg 1 and what airplane we were on, and we really grew to like Jen and Kisha as well. Tammy said, ĎLetís just not make it personal, because we like all of them, and thereís no way for us to personally say letís choose this team or this team.í So we made it purely on the decision of strategy and matchups.

THE DEADBOLT: How did you guys stay focused while some of the other teams were bickering?

VICTOR: We just tried to stay out of it.

TAMMY: Yeah. It was focusing on not making a facial expression, not saying anything, and looking at the ground. Weíre talking about when Margie and Luke and Jen and Kisha got into an altercation in China. You know, I knew that both of those teams were exhausted. Both of those teams had been so competitive and just emotions were soaring high and nothing I could do or say would help the situation.

VICTOR: It threw us for a loop a little bit. I donít know if you recall from that mat but Phil asked us if the teams were going well, and weíre like, ĎOh yeah, itís going great. We love each other.í And instantly theyíre like, ĎNo we donít.í

TAMMY: We had no idea that was coming.

THE DEADBOLT: So are you guys treated differently in the courtroom now?

TAMMY: Well, Iím a lowly associate, so I have yet to make a verbal courtroom appearance.

VICTOR: [laughs] The whole thing just happened, so weíre going to have to see. Although itís a little weird because reality life is one thing and then reality TV life is another. The two are colliding now and I hope thereís a manual on how to deal with that.

THE DEADBOLT: Well you can have fun in the Galapagos.

VICTOR: Oh no, Tammyís already claimed that and made it very clear she wants to go with her boyfriend instead of me. I wonít be making that journey, but Iíll certainly see pictures of it. [laughs].

Well I guess that's it. An end to a great season I liked it so much i didn't want it to be over Congratulations to Tammy and Victor! Can't wait for TAR15! Hopefully after 14 seasons, the first all-female team will win the race (which I think probably won't happen )

"Amazing Race" winner Victor Jih was chowing down at pricey Koi in L.A. last night, but he wasn't blowing through his million dollar winnings yet -- because dude and his sis still haven't received their checks!

Tammy and Victor started The Amazing Race strong, and, aside from a complete meltdown in Romania, stayed consistent throughout the race. During the finale, the Harvard Law educated siblings struggled with a brute strength task, but scored a come-from-behind victory on a mental task due to Victorís amazing memory and concentration. The overachievers discussed the secrets to their success, their very practical plans for their winnings, and being forced to wear a lot of very revealing outfits.

How far ahead of everyone were you when reached the finish line?

Victor: We were on the mat for 30 to 45 minutes before Jamie and Cara.

Victor, you rocked the surfboard memory task while everyone else was struggling. What was your secret?

Victor: It was nice because there was ultimately no pressure. I was just so relieved that we even had a shot and that Margie and Luke were still at the task. We had prepared for it. All three teams knew that at some point there would be a ďWhat do you remember about the trip?Ē task. I just said, ďWe still have a chanceĒ and I didnít think about anything else. It was just the adrenalin.

How far behind Margie and Luke were you when you arrived at the challenge?

Tammy: Itís hard to say. But I think from what weíve gathered about twenty to thirty minutes.

Victor: He had nine of the eleven surfboards already done.

Tammy, how did you feel about the producers making all the women wear those skimpy bikinis in the pig carrying challenge?

Tammy: I was not thrilled with any of the challenges that involved me and spandex or me and a skimpy anything. I got in so much trouble because every time I was in a bathing suit bottom or a white spandex leotard they would have these horrible shots from behind that I knew were going to be unflattering. I kept saying, ďStop filming me from behind. I kept getting yelled at for speaking to the camera man.

Victor: They didnít show it, but my sister had to pull a lot of weight. It was about 150 pounds, 200 yards in the sand. She had callouses all across her fingers that were bleeding.

Do you think the producers evened the score by giving the men baggy swim trunks that they had to take off during the surf board task?

Victor: Here I am, Iíve lost all of this weight and they give me extra-extra-extra large. What is that? I tried to roll the, They kept falling off. Finally I said, ďForget it. Iím taking them off.Ē

At what moment during the final leg did you realized youíd won?

Victor: Leaving the surfboard challenge because we knew the other teams were still behind us, thatís when it started sinking in that we might be able to do it. But I kept saying, ďYou never know. Our cab might get totally lost.Ē It was such a range of emotions because the cab ride to the surfboard challenge was all about making peace with losing. Leaving it was like, ďCan we actually dare to think that we might win this?Ē We ran fast to the finish line because even then we were like, ďThey might be right behind us.Ē

Tammy, why didnít you put your pants on during the cab ride to the finish line?

Tammy: Because I was so wet. I was so overwhelmed with what was happening. The other thing was I didnít know how far away from the surfboard task the final mat was so I didnít want to get caught with one leg in and have to start running.

How did you two manage to become such a cohesive, supportive team after having a complete meltdown in Romania?

Victor: It canít get any worse than that. There was nowhere to go but up.

Tammy: We talked a lot before the race about how we really wanted to change our relationship going into this race because I wanted Victor to see me as an equal. I realized on the Race that, while I want that, I also really, really, really want to win. I donít think we can change our 26 year long relationship during this race. I donít need to fight every single battle. We learned that we have a common goal and when we compromise we really work well together.

How much of an advantage do you think speaking Chinese gave you during the Beijing legs?

Victor: The biggest advantage it gave us was it allowed us to enjoy the China legs, to have some levity and joke around with the locals. We would say, ďPut them in the back of the plane,Ē not that they ever really listened to us. It certainly gave us an advantage in the waiter task. It allowed to get an advantage in terms of getting directions. But at the end of the day, what I like about it is the Race tests so many different dimensions that some people have strength in and some people have weaknesses in. The final was just as difficult for us.

Tammy: I may know how to speak Chinese, but I donít know how to jump off a diving board very well.

Victor: I thought it was appropriate for everyone at the final to bunch and have to start over. I thought it was appropriate for the final three teams to have one last leg for the win.

What was going through your minds when Luke and Margie got into that blowout fight with Jen and Kisha at the Pit Stop right in front of you?

Tammy: I really was not expecting that to happen. When I was doing the bird task Jennifer mentioned they had some kind of squabble. But my personality is that if I have that kind of squabble I apologize profusely and let it go. I projected and assumed thatís what happened. So when they started to fight I was blown away. I thought, ďI need to stay out of this. Look to the ground. No facial expressions. Donít say anything.Ē

Victor: The whole time I was trying to use telepathy to talk to Tammy. It was the same thing. ďDonít smile. Donít look sad. Donít do anything.Ē

Tammy: Watching the footage of it is hilarious because thereís Victor staring at the sky and me looking at the ground. That fight went on for a good 45 minutes. I was looking at the ground for a very long time.

Victor: Luke and Margie stepped off the mat two or three times and had to be brought back.

What are you going to do with the million dollars?

Tammy: We sadly donít have that fun of an answer. I paid for law school with loans. Once I get the money, the money will be going right back to the bank to pay off my loans.

Victor: Iím also paying down debt. Iím going to help bail out Citibank.

Tammy: I have been really, really wanting a pair of nice Christian Louboutin shoes. So I might treat myself.

Which was harder: the Race or 1L at Harvard Law School?

Tammy: The Race.

Victor: Iíll give you another answer: watching the Race. Thatís even worse.

What was your favorite task?

Victor: Doing that bungee jump on the first leg. It was so dramatic, such a wild thing to do outside of my comfort zone. It was like diving into the adventure of the whole thing.

Tammy: I loved doing the karaoke party taxi. Victor and I got to let loose, have fun, even though it was a stressful race.

How did going on the Race change your lives?

Victor: Thatís a hard question because I feel like weíre still in the middle of it. I feel like my entire life, weíve done the proper path. We went to undergrad, went to law school, didnít really take time off in between. We really havenít taken any risks in our lives. My sister thought about taking a year off before law school and that didnít happen. For me it was all about doing something completely unexpected, completely out of the ordinary and realizing life can be a lot of fun. Even though the Race is over, thereís no reason why we canít keep doing crazy things.

Tammy: I hope that life will always be an adventure, like the Race was.

Kynt and Vyxsin are Fancastís celebrity Amazing Race bloggers. They have this question for you: Guys! Unbelievable performance! The students at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California sent along several questions for you and we selected this one: Now that you two have proven that your teamwork can move mountains (and make millions!), have you two considered partnering up as attorneys and practicing law together? The Tammy & Victor Law Offices could tag-team ANY case!

Tammy: Absolutely not. I donít think Victor and I are meant to work together. In our life, Victor has been my teacher. Heís done everything before me. If I were going to partner with somebody on a career level, Iíd partner with somebody who would view me as my equal. Victors ten years ahead of me in his career and weíre not at the same place.

Tammy and Victor are on Bonnie Hunt right now and they are just adorable! Tammy is pretty in pink!Bonnie asks them if they were prepared for the memory challenge and Tammy says yes that she knew Victor would nail it. They thought they lost the race at the pig task, they were 30 minutes behind.The pig challenge was difficult.The Romania thing comes up, brothers and sisters yadda yadda big brother issues. How they learned to work together as a team and no matter what they are still brother and sisters. Their parents thought they would lose their jobs if they went on the race.Victor has always been a TAR fan They talk about the cast party and how they bonded and Jen/Kisha Marge/Luke Cara/Jamie were sad they were not invited to be on Bonnie. Victor and Tammy tell Bonnie that they have something for her from all the cast and they show a clip of all the teams surrounding Phil at the CBS party in NY and Phil on behalf of TAR thanks her for her support because of her support, more and more fans which means and more and more races.

Siblings (and lawyers) Tammy and Victor Jih are the latest team to take home the million dollar prize on "The Amazing Race."

The race pits teams against one another as they travel around the world in a quest that challenges the mind, body and spirit.

The winners spoke to CTV.ca about their victory.

CTV.ca: Congratulations on your stunning win!

Victor: I think "stunning" is an appropriate work after seeing how that last leg turned out!

Tammy: We were stunned!

CTV.ca: Tell me, what did it feel like when you were rushing towards that final mat?

Tammy: I felt overwhelmed. We thought we were behind, Margie and Luke seemed like they had such a lead on us. It wasn't until we were leaving that last roadblock that we thought we had a chance at winning.

Victor: Both the cab ride to the last task and the ride away from the last task were the quietest rides we had during the show. The camera crews were asking us, "Um, are you going to say anything?" We were either preparing to lose, or preparing for the possibility we could win.

CTV.ca: What's your relationship like now after the race?

Tammy: The best part about doing the race with a sibling is that no matter what happens, good or bad, when you go home, you're still siblings. Our relationship is stronger, but we were glad that we could finally have some space from each other!

Victor: I should make it clear that she wants one of the big trips, and not with me!

Tammy: We both decided that if we won two trips, we would take them separately!

CTV.ca: There was anything that you regret in the way you treated each other?

Victor: Obviously, my big regret was Romania. I think early on in the show, in stressful situations, my eye was on the prize, it was easy to focus on that at the expense of my sister, regardless of how she was feeling in general.

CTV.ca: Did you get a different perspective when you watched it back on the show?

Victor: Watching yourself on TV is an adventure in itself!

CTV.ca: What has reaction been like from your fans?

Victor: Sometimes I'll be walking down the street, especially in airports, and people always scream out at me, "Victor, be nicer to your sister!" It makes me wonder, how come people don't yell out, "Tammy, listen to your brother!" Absolutely nobody.

CTV.ca: What was it like spending so much time racing in China?

Tammy: I feel that we were so fortunate to visit China on this race. It made our parents so proud to see that, that despite being born and raised in America, that they taught us enough that we'd be comfortable in a place that we'd never live in. Being able to communicate with the locals gave us a sense of ease, but despite that, the first two legs, we still didn't come in first. The race still plays to many different strengths.

Victor: I was glad to have a task that played to our strengths!

CTV.ca: Did you have more incentive to do well, because you didn't want to be the team that was eliminated in China?

Victor: There was a lot of pressure. The whole time I was thinking, "How embarrassing would it be to lose in China?" A couple times we came close!

2009/05/17 The winners of The Amazing Race Season 14, Victor and Tammy Jih, give the lowdown on how they feel about the unexpected win. PETRINA JO FERNANDEZ writes.

REALITY TV hit an all-time high with Season 14 of The Amazing Race.

Fans saw the final four teams choke on larvae and scorpions, struggle to take food orders in Mandarin, and carry a 65kg pig 182 metres to a beach luau.

Twenty-two days and nine countries later, Asian-American siblings Victor, 36, and Tammy Jih, 27, sweated and grunted their way through as the million-dollar winners, the race was recorded last year and aired from Feb 16 to May 11, this year.

The winners spoke in a telephone interview from California.

On their come-from-behind win.

Victor: It was an absolute shock! After working so hard and feeling so exhausted, the unexpected win was a terrific rush. And I didnít realise just how many people worldwide, especially in Asia, watch The Amazing Race.

Tammy: Iím still in shock, even though the race was over last year. It was so amazing, I actually cried when I crossed the finish line.

Q: How do you think you represented Asian?

Victor: There were some things we did well and others, not so well. For instance, our synchronised diving skills were definitely not on par with that of an Asian sync swimming team (laughs). But having an Asian background did come in handy. We had an easier time taking orders in Mandarin during our Beijing challenge. I remember saying ďIf we canít do this, Mum and Dad will kill us!Ē

Q: What personal achievements have you made in the course of this race?

Tammy: Well, Iím not particularly co-ordinated, strong or athletic. I have never played sports; I just concentrate on my academic life. I was terribly nervous when I saw how fit the other teams were, especially the girls (laughs). Having competed alongside them, and having won made me a more confident person.

Victor: For me, it was just being in the race. As the eldest son, I felt like Iíve always done what was expected of me. I studied hard, went to law school, became a lawyer. This was my chance to do something that everyone thought was crazy. I never expected to be good at it! Itís great to have my parents proud of me for doing something wild (laughs).

Q: Why did you decide to partner your sibling and what advantages or otherwise did that pose?

Tammy: This is going to hurt my other brotherís feelings (laughs) but I wanted to do this with Victor. He has always been the one pushing me harder, and has been there for me. I knew the race would put us in a lot of difficult situations so I wanted to take this on with someone I trust completely. Victorís safe to be with because I know him so well. Heís my brother, I love him. Even if we fight like mad, it wonít affect our relationship.

Victor: (Laughs) Siblings are not meant to be ďlockedĒ in a cage with each other for 24 hours, let alone 22 days! We did fight like crazy, but deep down, we love each other and thatís what carried us through.

Q: How did you cope, mentally and emotionally?

Victor: It was very hard! The race or the challenges themselves werenít too difficult; it was the Pit Stops in between that drove us mad. The format of the Pit Stops saw us locked away in our hotel room with only each other for company. We spent most of the time complaining about what we didnít like about the other person. It was exhaustive! But luckily we did most of the fighting early on in the race and got it over with.

I know Tammy made friends with the cheerleadersí team (Jaime and Cara) just so she would have someone to complain about me to (laughs).

Tammy: It truly was awful at first but we took it in stride. Thatís why I loved being in The Amazing Race with Victor. I told him at least 10 things about him that annoyed me every day but I knew that at the end of the day (or the end of the race, anyway), heíd still love me.

Q: With the cameras on at you all the time, did you feel like superstars?

Tammy: No. I hated it. After all, I was wearing grimy clothes for four weeks. I only had a backpack, was wearing absolutely no make-up, and my hair was in a perpetual mess. I hardly felt like a person, much less a superstar.

Victor: (Laughs) Yeah, Tammy probably hated it more than me. I mean, we were filmed doing gymnastics with our pants off! Every embarrassing moment imaginable was caught on camera. It was hardly superstar material.

Q: Name one must-have item in your backpack.

Tammy: Face lotion. All that running around left my skin horribly parched and dry.

Victor: Clean good underwear (laughs). You donít want to be captured on camera running around Siberia or somewhere with holes in your underwear.

Their trump card? Speaking Mandarin No language barrier for The Amazing Race winners in China By Jeanmarie Tan

May 16, 2009

IT PAYS to speak Mandarin.

One million dollars to be exact, in the case of US-born-and-bred siblings Tammy and Victor Jih, winners of the 14th season of popular reality series The Amazing Race.

And they have their hard-driving, mother tongue-endorsing parents to thank for it.

Although already considered one of the front runners this season, the Harvard-trained lawyers of Chinese descent received an even bigger boost when two legs of the race were set in China.

It was then that they started taking advantage of their 'imperfect' knowledge of Mandarin to communicate with the locals while the other English-speaking racers floundered with the language barrier.

The brother-and-sister duo also excelled in tasks like taking customers' orders in a Chinese restaurant and writing calligraphy.

They also made several self-deprecating remarks during those episodes, like bringing shame to their parents who may 'cry themselves to death' if they didn't come first in the China legs.

Tammy, 26, told The New Paper over the phone from San Francisco that those comments were 'part serious and part joking'.

She said: 'They'd be proud of us no matter what, but if we failed (those tasks), it would be shameful (because) they invested time and effort in getting us to learn the language.'

Victor, 35, added: 'Now they fight over who's more responsible for our success! But both of them are just happy we came home alive, because they expected us to lose.'

According to him, during their childhood, their mum refused to speak to them in English and forced the family to communicate only in Mandarin at home.

Temper tantrums ensued.

Their parents are originally from Taiwan and lived in the US for 30 years, but have since returned to their home country.

Victor recalled: 'In kindergarten I couldn't even say 'I need to go to the bathroom' in English, so I wet my pants on the first day...

'We fought with our parents growing up (over attending Chinese school), but now we're grateful they never gave up on us.'

Coincidentally, the timing of their victory - which was filmed months ago but aired only on Sunday in the US - couldn't be more perfect as it fell on Mother's Day.

Tammy said: 'We convinced them to make this crazy trip and fly to New York City at the last minute to watch the finale with us.

'They didn't know we'd won, so it was so special to share it with them, especially on Mother's Day.'

As their new windfall would go into paying off Tammy's law school loans, how are they going to repay mum?

Victor said: 'We're working on it, but they've said they'll take the Hawaii trip!'

That's one of four holidays the pair won for nabbing first place on one of the race's legs.

First Asian-American team to win

The Jihs are also the first Asian-American team to pocket The Amazing Race's US$1 million ($1.47m) prize.

Victor said: 'It was a surprise anyway, so it's great winning. Period. But it's also a vindication of the way we were brought up.'

The siblings - who were portrayed as being smart, strong, competitive, friendly and even physically attractive - said they've received e-mails from Asian-Americans and Asians from all over the world who were 'happy and proud' of the way they carried themselves on the show.

Victor revealed that one of the e-mails came from a 'little Japanese kid' who said he had always argued with his mother too. But after watching them on the show, he thought it was a 'good idea' to stay in Japanese school.

Even though Victor had visited China before - most recently to Beijing for last year's Olympics - he saw the country in a new light after The Amazing Race.

He said: 'I felt very American around the other racers because they never treated us differently.

'But then I felt very Asian because the Chinese people around us treated us well too and were rooting for us, so it was then that I completely accepted both parts of my identity.'

I am so happy for them! Congrats to them! I am rooting for them and Jamie/Cara, I am really wanting to throw away my computer when Margie/Luke have a really good lead, but when it did finally counted, Tammy/Victor and Jamie/Cara caught up and I loved it